


Aftermath revisited

by BethAlex



Series: Nanda Parbat [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 02:20:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3470750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BethAlex/pseuds/BethAlex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malcolm finds out more about his relationship with Team Arrow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath revisited

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DieAstra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DieAstra/gifts).



> Here's part three in the Nanda Parbat series, and just so you know - I'm working on part four. That Malcolm is a slave-driver! :-)

Malcolm waited until Oliver was out of earshot, and then typed a quick command on his computer. The thermographic camera obediently picked out Oliver wearily heading for the exit.

Ignoring his own fatigue, Malcolm wondered about the exhaustion of the younger man. Oliver was half his age; shouldn’t he be at least as spirited as he himself was? Odd.

Malcolm watched Oliver slip through a side door and exit the grounds. The camera tracked him until Oliver got into his car and drove off. Frowning, Malcolm changed all the codes on his doors and windows once more; then quickly wrote a program and installed it. Now the computer would let him know if anybody tried to override his commands. It would suffice for the next couple of hours, and he would find different accommodations in the morning. A shame though, he was rather fond of the house he was in. Still, he could use it to deceive team Arrow. Let them believe this was still his principal residence.

Malcolm switched cameras, just in time to see Oliver arrive in the Arrowcave. 

“There you are! I was beginning to think Merlyn had killed you,” Felicity sighed.

“I’m not that stupid,” Malcolm muttered to himself.

“He’s insane, but not stupid,” Diggle protested. “Had he killed Oliver, we would’ve come after him.”

Oliver shook his head. “And what good would that do, Dig? Do you really think any of you are fit to take on the Magician?”

Malcolm snorted. They’d be dead before they even knew it.

Felicity shrugged. “I hear he’s severely injured, that’s bound to slow him down.”

“Not so that you’d notice,” Oliver replied.

“He didn’t know I cracked his code,” Felicity pointed out. 

Malcolm did not appreciate her tone of superiority, grimly thinking that he knew now.

“He knew as soon as he spotted me,” Oliver pointed out.

“You should’ve killed him,” Felicity said. “I really don’t know what you thought you’d achieve by going there.”

“Guys,” Oliver said sternly. “Once and for all, I don’t want Malcolm dead. And frankly, I’m lucky I’m still alive. Because he’s fast, and he’s smart. He knew I was there as soon as I was in the room. And he was armed to the teeth. Should something happen to me, you need to stay away from him. You are no match for that man.”

Diggle stood aside, crossing his arms – he was clearly not keen on getting caught in the crossfire. Good thinking, Malcolm thought approvingly.

“Next time, place a bomb,” Felicity shrugged.

Oho. Malcolm decided that he really needed to keep a closer eye on Felicity. He already had electronic spies at Queen Consolidated, but he’d put some in her home as well. He’d also need to install a tracking device in her cell phone. After all, she had done the same to him.

“Thea and you, you are rather bloodthirsty,” Oliver observed. “You want him dead, kill him yourself.”

“I’m no killer,” Felicity said, turning to her computer screen, typing in a command.

“What, and I am?” Oliver shook his head. “You girls need to do some serious thinking. Thea was too much of a coward to go after him herself, and now you suggest I blow up his house. How is that any different from what Malcolm did in the Glades? You judge him, but you are both just as bad.”

Malcolm sat back, surprised. Oliver was actually defending him? That was unexpected.

Felicity whipped around, her eyes filling with tears. “How can you say that? How dare you compare me to that man? How dare you compare your own sister to him? And look, he has already changed the codes again.”

“He knows you hate him,” Oliver shrugged. “I’d have changed the codes.”

“Did you get what you wanted,” Diggle asked softly.

Oliver smiled. “Yes. Yes, I did. I think we can add Malcolm to our list of friends.”

Oliver had a list? Interesting. Lists were dangerous. Malcolm didn’t like the idea of his name on a list, any list.

Felicity frowned, and went to stand in front of Oliver, arms crossed. “I don’t want to work with Merlyn. I don’t want the team to think of him as a friend. He’s creepy, he’s dangerous, and he’s mad. Oliver, he had Sara killed! How can you even…”

Malcolm lifted a sardonic eyebrow. “Takes one to know one, Felicity,” he murmured.

Oliver held up a hand, interrupting her. “I’m aware of your feelings, Felicity. You keep making them abundantly clear. In the few hours training I’ve had with Malcolm, I learned more than I thought possible. It made me realize just how much I need his help.”

“Get his help, and then get rid of him,” Felicity insisted.

Sitting forward, Malcolm waited for Oliver’s next words. Was the boy just using him?

“Enough. Don’t you see? Look at Thea. Before she joined Malcolm, the only exercise she got was on the dancefloor when she went clubbing. Within a few months, Malcolm has transformed her from a lazy couch potato into a fighter. She has stamina, she has amazing reflexes and she knows what she’s doing. If he can do that for her, what will be able to do for me? The man is a formidable teacher.”

“Oliver,” Felicity begged, “You really need to reconsider. Will he even want to teach you? What will he demand in return? Now that Ra’s is dead, he doesn’t need your help anymore. You might be next on his list!”

“He had his chance tonight, and didn’t take it,” Oliver sighed.

“He might be afraid of us,” Diggle suggested.

Malcolm laughed out loud. Yes. He was terrified. Scared stiff.

Oliver sighed again. “Reality check, Dig. You’ve seen him in that hall. Do you really think you and our girls are a match for that level of skill? When that man goes down, it’s because of the sheer number of adversaries against him. Even Ra’s didn’t dare fight him.”

“Because he wanted to bait you with Merlyn,” Felicity insisted.

Oliver shook his head. “He didn’t need to keep Malcolm alive for that, did he? We had no way of knowing whether he was alive or dead, and we went in anyway.”

Oliver had a point, Malcolm thought. Had Ra’s really been afraid of him?

“So. We have a problem, we give the Magician a call,” Diggle said sarcastically.

“Frankly, if I have to have Malcolm at my back, I want to know that he has my back,” Roy said.

Malcolm hadn’t been able to see him; the angle of his camera in the Arrowcave was a bit inconvenient. At least the team hadn’t found it! Yet. But even if they did, they’d not be able to figure out who had placed it.

Felicity stomped her foot. “Men! Next, we’ll be inviting him over for coffee and cake, or what?”

Oliver yawned. “I don’t expect you to understand my decisions, team. But I expect you to respect them. And now I’m going to get some sleep.”

Oliver turned on his heel and left, every line in his body conveying anger.

Speechless, the team watched him go.

After a moment, Diggle said, “That could’ve gone better.”

“You can’t expect me to keep my mouth shut,” Felicity grumbled.

“He sounded a lot like Merlyn there,” Roy said thoughtfully. “I wonder what they were talking about.”

Felicity grinned. “I have a little virus in Merlyn’s computer system. If the computer was on, we can listen to their conversation.”

Malcolm snorted. Did she really believe he hadn’t spotted that?

Felicity hit a key, and a recording of Malcolm’s sarcastic voice filtered over their speaker. “Better luck next time, Felicity.” 

Diggle and Roy laughed, and Felicity stared at her screen with a dumbfounded expression.

Malcolm was rather delighted that he got to see the effect of his message first-hand.

“Merlyn must have hired a computer genius. I need to check who changed jobs recently.”

“Yeah, because he didn’t think you’d do that. I don’t think he left a paper trail on this one,” Roy sniggered.

Felicity frowned. “That man is so annoying.”

“He’d probably say the same thing about you,” Roy pointed out gleefully.

“I’m just doing my job,” Felicity said defensively.

Roy shrugged. “So, Dig. How good is he?”

Diggle sighed. “Honestly? He’s breathtaking. He managed to get out of his cell without our help, and got up to the hall in time to help us. They had him standing on burning coals, but you’d never know it. He’s fast, he’s got eyes in the back of his head, and he’s incredibly light on his feet. He makes combat look like a dance.” 

Roy laughed. “I think you’re in love.” 

“With his fighting, yes. He doesn’t even have to fight dirty. I wonder what he can do when he’s at the top of his game. He’ll probably blow you away. I’m just not as enamored with his character,” Diggle shrugged.

“He doesn’t have character,” Felicity spat.

“I object to that,” Malcolm frowned.

“He makes decisions we cannot understand,” Roy said. “But he must have his reasons.”

“Give me one good reason to force your own daughter to commit murder,” Felicity demanded.

“The League,” Diggle said. “There’s stuff going on there that we know nothing about. You didn’t see Oliver’s face when Merlyn killed Ra’s. I’ve never seen him so relieved.”

Felicity faced the two men. “So. You’re going to support Oliver’s decision?”

Roy nodded. “I was in favor of working with Merlyn before. He’s an asset.”

“Thanks for that, kiddo,” Malcolm murmured sarcastically.

Felicity stared at Diggle. “What about you?”

“I don’t trust the man,” Diggle said. “But I trust Oliver. If he thinks he can trust Merlyn, that’s good enough for me.”

“You explain that to Thea, then. And Laurel,” Felicity huffed.

“I’ll leave that to Oliver,” Diggle said comfortably.

“The League will regroup and attack us,” Roy said. “Oliver had better learn what he needs to learn.”

“And again, it’ll be good to have Merlyn on our side. He knows all there is to know about the League,” Diggle nodded.

“He might side with the League and trap us,” Felicity shook her head.

“He warned us,” Diggle remembered. “He told us it was a trap. And he threw me his knife. If he wanted to side with the League, that was his chance. He didn’t take it.”

“He needed you to get out of there,” Felicity shrugged.

“Not really,” Malcolm rolled his eyes.

“No, Felicity. He didn’t need us. He could’ve left us; made for the chopper on his own, told the pilot we were dead. Instead, he risked his freedom and his life by coming to the hall. He might not be honest with us, but I do think he’s honest with Oliver.”

“Fine,” Felicity wrinkled her nose. “We have no choice but to follow Oliver’s lead. I still think we made friends with the devil, though.”

“Better the devil you know,” Roy shrugged. “Come on, Dig, I give you a lift. You need to get some sleep.”

Diggle yawned. “You’re right about that, I really do.”

“Why didn’t you get some sleep on the plane,” Felicity wondered.

“What? With Merlyn sitting right there, as fresh as a damn daisy? No way.”

Roy frowned. “I thought they tortured him. Wasn’t he exhausted?”

“You heard Oliver. I have no idea how the man did it, but when we made for the helicopter, he was running as fast as we were. And they don’t exactly have paved roads up there. On the plane, he never even yawned once. Didn’t see him wince or flinch, either.” 

Malcolm smirked. His self-control had really paid off. 

“Maybe he has access to Mirakuru, or something like it?” 

“I don’t think so, Roy. He doesn’t possess your super-human strength. He’s just got an incredible amount of willpower. And that’s something I can admire.”

“You shouldn’t admire anything about that man,” Felicity said. “Okay, I’ll hold the fort. You go get some sleep. We all need to be at our best if we have to deal with that creep.”

“Don’t keep calling him names when Oliver is around,” Diggle warned. “Try to be neutral.”

The two men left. Felicity stood, hands on hips, staring into space.

Malcolm studied her and knew he had made an enemy. A dangerous one.

“I don’t trust you, Malcolm Merlyn. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll come and get you,” Felicity said to herself.

Malcolm raised a brow. “I’ll get you first, Felicity.”


End file.
